What do you mean we're in an RPG!
by Nisa-chan666
Summary: The Bladebreakers are back, except that this time, they have really strange symptoms, and Garnet is feeling a strange spiritual pull. TysonKai, ReiMax, KennyOC and HilaryOC.
1. Chapter 1: The calling

Nisa-chan666: Yay! My second proper story! Hopefully I'll make the chapters longer this time. So without further ado, here are the characters in my new story: Tyson, Kai, Rei, Max, Kenny, Hilary, Garnet and introducing... my muse, Michael! Not to be mistaken for Michael out of the All-starz. The two couldn't be any more different. You notice that this time I'm not including Daichi. I found him too hard to work with, because I have watched hardly any of G-Revolution. This is why his character is so under-developed. So, who wants to do the disclaimer?

Michael: You're going to pick me, I can tell. So, here it is. Nisa-chan666 doesn't own Beyblade...

Nisa-chan: That belongs to Takao Aoki (the lucky git.)

Michael: Hey! You asked me to say the disclaimer, and then interrupt! As I was saying, Nisa-chan doesn't own Beyblade or any of the official characters, but unfortunately for Garnet and I, she does own us! (Mumbles) Can someone please save us? She's not right in the head!

Nisa-chan: (Grows devil horns) I heard that little one. Don't push your luck. Now, on with the story. (Start poking Michael with devil fork.)

* * *

Chapter 1: The calling.

Kai woke up to see bright sunlight streaming through the open curtains, completely blinding him. He scowled. Didn't Tyson's grandpa understand that "Do not enter" didn't mean "enter quietly, hoping that the inhabitants don't notice"? He sat up and stretched, wincing slightly at the loud cracks coming from various joints. He slipped out of bed, dragged his feet across the floor and snapped the curtains shut again. He spun around and leant on the wall, eyes blinking sweat from his eyes. It was a ridiculously hot summer that year. He peered at the beds laid on the floor, and smiled at the sight of his younger boyfriend, Tyson, curled up fast asleep, a small smile on his face. He yawned. Lately he'd had a hard time getting to sleep, and even then his slumber was disturbed by strange, vision-like dreams. Every morning he would try to remember them, but they would always slip away like grains of sand in an hour-glass. The one thing he could pick up was a horrible image of Tyson in pain. He shook his head. All this brooding wasn't going to get him anywhere. He heard a huge yawn from Tyson, and the younger boy joined him at the wall, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Did you have a good night?" Tyson asked, still yawning.

"Not really. I was awake almost all night," Kai muttered, kneading one of his eyes.

"Hmmm. You have been looking ill the past few days," Tyson agreed, looking at him with concern.

Kai smirked. Looking ill was an understatement. He'd had so little sleep that he thought that it wouldn't be strange if his eyes suddenly started to bleed. They certainly felt that way at that moment. He pushed himself away from the wall, and made his way outside. Tyson watched him go, unease still on his face. Physically, Kai had no reason to be so lethargic. Hell, Kai was one of the fittest people he knew. But, there he was, looking almost as emaciated as he had been in Prague.

* * *

Max walked down the stairs, wiping sleep from his eyes. He entered the kitchen to see Rei sitting at the table, staring with lacklustre eyes at a spot on the floor the other side of the table. He frowned. These last few days, his boyfriend had been complaining of lack of sleep and strange dreams. They were certainly taking their toll. He looked pale and skeletal in the morning light. Max shook his head. He had told Rei time and time again to go and see a doctor, but so far his advice had been forgotten. Truth be told, Max wasn't feeling 100 himself. He kept seeing strange objects on the edge of his vision, mostly coloured lights, that he knew couldn't be there. He sat down next to Rei, taking his hand. Rei jumped, as if he'd been about a million miles away.

"Morning Rei," Max smiled kindly.

"Hey, Maxie," the Chinese boy mumbled back, leaning his head on Max's shoulder.

"You're really not looking well," Max replied, concern clouding his young face.

"You sound like my mum," Rei grinned, still looking horribly ill. "You continue like this, and I'll think aliens have come in the night and taken the real Maxie away."

"Hey, I'm not sugar-high all the time," Max frowned.

"Yeah, just most of the time," Rei smiled, kissing him lightly on the forehead.

"Come on, we've got to get ready for meeting the guys downtown. That is if you're up to it," Max said, frown deepening.

"Yeah, just coming," Rei sighed.

* * *

Garnet stood at the bus-stop with Kenny, fingering the locket she always wore. She had been having strange energy pulls lately. Not the normal, quiet pulls that she felt around the bit-beasts. These ones seemed to be coming from inside her, yet from an external force at the same time. She had also noticed that Kenny seemed to be a lot more alert, head darting to the side every so often, then, finding nothing there, turning back to her, shaking his head, a nervous smile on his face. She hoped that seeing the other Bladebreakers would help clear something up. When the bus arrived at the stop, she was desperate to find some sort of answer. The pulls had been growing all morning, and she knew that in about an hour, she would basically be doubled up in agony on the floor.

* * *

Hilary walked over to the tube station, wiping sweat off her forehead every few steps. She had been feeling under the weather, a fever and a heat rash all over her arms. She stopped on the platform, hardly remembering actually getting a ticket and going into the relative cool of the tube platform through her headache. A young couple walked past her, giving each other death glares. She closed her eyes as a bolt of pain surged through her head. It was strange, but whenever someone near her had an angry or negative feeling, her condition seemed to get worse. A screeching of brakes on the tracks told her that her train had arrived. She sat down on one of the hard plastic seats and leant her head against the glass. It felt wonderfully cool against her feverish skin.

* * *

Garnet stepped out of the bus, Kenny hopping out behind her. They had agreed to meet in the local Costa's coffee shop. They stepped into the coffee shop and bought their drinks and carried them outside, each deep in their own thoughts. Garnet sat down on a near-by bench, sipping her coffee with a frown on her face. Kenny sat next to her, and laid his hand on hers with a kind smile.

"This is really worrying you, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just don't know what it means," she agreed, punching her knee in frustration. "I'm the guardian of the bit. I should know whether we should be getting ready for... oh, I don't know. Something!"

"Look, don't worry. That's my job," her boyfriend said, pulling her into an embrace.

She smiled. This was what she loved about him. She could always count on him to stay by her side, no matter what happened. Even when she was being moody for no actual reason, he was always there for her when she had let all her steam off. She heard footsteps behind her, and then Tyson's voice.

"Awww, you two are such a cute couple!" he grinned, pulling a peace sign at her turned head.

A large anime sweat-drop slid down her head. She could never quite get her head around Tyson. At times he acted like 5-year old, other times like a serious adult. He was totally bipolar. Unlike his boyfriend, Kai. Kai was serious all the time. He wasn't exactly what you would call a barrel of laughs. Garnet couldn't keep up with his slightly morbid sense of humour, when he actually did laugh. She immediately noticed a change in both of them. Kai seemed bone-tired, and Tyson was just a bundle of nervous energy. Oh, wait... wasn't Tyson always a bundle of energy? But, that point aside, Tyson seemed almost as hyper as Max when on a sugar rampage. Another set of footsteps, and she saw Rei and Max walk up. Rei looked positively starved and skeletal, and Max's eyes were flitting nervously all over the place. A thump beside her alerted her to Hilary's presence. The girl was drenched in a cold sweat, and was trembling violently.

"Hey. We don't seem too well at the moment, do we?" she muttered with a nervous laugh.

* * *

5 minutes later they were all sat in the shade of several trees near the park. Garnet clutched her locket and sighed deeply.

"Okay, what the hell is happening?" Max asked snappily, which was extremely rare for him.

"Give me moment. Let's hear the symptoms we all have. We'll start with Hilary," Garnet replied seriously.

"Well, the other day I woke up feeling really feverish. And it seems to get worse whenever someone has negative feelings around me," the girl replied, sweat sliding down her glistening face.

"Anything else?" Garnet asked.

"Well, I have got sun-burn, but that's the sun's fault," Hilary grinned.

"You definitely haven't lost your sense of humour anyway. Max?" Garnet smiled, before switching back to the seriousness of the situation.

"I keep seeing coloured lights at the edge of my vision," Max replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Kenny gasped, and said, "That's weird. I've been seeing things too. Except I keep seeing shadowy figures, trying to block out the sun."

"We have some similarities then," Garnet muttered, frowning. "What about you Kai?"

"Insomnia. And some sinister dreams," Kai replied, blunt as usual.

"Sinister? Could you elaborate?" Garnet asked.

"I can't remember them, except for one part," he replied, rubbing one of his eyes.

"That is?" Tyson asked quietly.

"It's... you, Tyson. Getting tortured. And I can't do anything about it," Kai whispered, scowling.

"Rei, weren't you having the same sort of symptoms?" Max asked, worry clouding his face.

"Yeah. I can't remember them apart from a black room with torture weapons," Rei replied, closing his eyes. "It made me lose my appetite a little."

"Well, that just leaves Tyson and I," Garnet murmured.

"I just have too much energy at the moment. It's like Kai in reverse," Tyson said, erratically rocking on the floor.

"Well... I keep feeling a painful spiritual pull. It's been getting worse all morning..." Garnet said, trailing off with a grimace. "It's almost total agony."

At that moment, their beyblades began to glow brightly, and a burst of agony ignited in her chest. She screamed, and slumped to the floor. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

* * *

Nisa-chan666: Cliff-hanger! What do these dreams and strange symptoms mean? Stay tuned to find out!

Michael: Oh dear lord. You sound like one of those cheesy soap narrators.

Nisa-chan: ¬.¬ I know. Don't rub it in.


	2. Chapter 2: The gifts

Nisa-chan666: Hello again! Right to recap, the Bladebreakers had been suffering from strange symptoms (insomnia, hallucinating etc.) And Garnet had felt a strange pull, and collapsed at the end of the chapter. Any questions?

Garnet: Just one.

Nisa-chan: Fire away.

Garnet: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO US?

Nisa-chan: Calm down, that was only one chapter! Michael, could you do the disclaimer? I've got Garnet here trying to kill me.

Michael: Nisa-chan666 does not own Beyblade, but she does own me and Garnet. Okay, done. Excuse me while I try to kill the authoress. On with the story.

* * *

Chapter 2: The gifts.

Garnet opened her eyes and looked blearily at the canopy of leaves above her. What happened? She sat up, rubbing her eyes wearily. She paused for a moment. She peered at her hands. Something about them wasn't right. They looked okay, but it was dark and she couldn't see much. The moon moved above a gap in the trees, and her hand was bathed in ethereal silver light. She gasped. Now she knew what was wrong. Her hands were made of bark. She held them up to the moonlight, still trying to tell herself that it wasn't what it seemed. But it was what it seemed. Her hands were made of bark. A flash of moonlight on water's surface alerted her to the river flowing by the clearing. That was weird. Wasn't the river on the other side of town? She shook her head and crept to the water's edge. She suppressed a scream as she looked at her reflection. She was wearing a long red dress with vines of dark pink roses embroidered up the skirt. Her hair had grown down to the middle of her back and a crown of entwined rosebuds was nestled on the top of her head. A long coiled whip of thorns was attached to the belt around her hips. And her skin was a pale green. Something definitely wasn't right.

"Oh my god. I look like an overgrown rose-bush," she whispered, lightly touching her cheek.

Her other hand started to rise, but was pricked by one of the thorns on her whip. She grasped it tightly to her chest, wincing slightly. It had made her bleed, a sticky amber liquid that slowly oozed from the wound.

* * *

Kenny woke up to find himself entangled in a tree. How, he had no idea, because his arms and legs weren't caught in anything, and nothing seemed to be latched onto his head. Maybe it was something on his back. He turned... and blanched. 2 large black wings were protruding from his back. They definitely were not there the last time he had checked. He started to panic, thrashing about from side to side.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," a female voice whispered.

"Who's there?" he squeaked, peering about for the mystery voice.

"What do you mean, who's there? Don't you recognise me?" she replied, annoyance turning the voice into one he knew all too well.

"Dizzi?" he asked.

"Yay, he gets it. Like I said, I wouldn't bother thrashing about like that," Dizzi whooped sarcastically.

"It's not as if you've ever been in a predicament like this before," Kenny grumbled, feet dangling in the air.

"Excuse me! I'll have you know that I have been in this kind of tight spot loads of times! Before I got stuck in your lap-top, I was a harpy, you know," Dizzi snapped. "Looks like you've taken on some of my characteristics."

"A harpy? Wait a second... harpies are all female! Please tell me I'm not a girl!" he yelped, looking down at himself.

"Nope, I would be laughing if you were," Dizzi giggled.

Kenny had stopped listening. He was staring at his hands, which had grown in length, with sharp, pointed talons. He looked himself over again, not quite believing what he saw. He was wearing long grey trousers ripped at the knees, and a brown leather belt. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which explained why he'd been shivering for the last 5 minutes.

"Do you really fly around everywhere with no shirt on?" he asked through chattering teeth.

"Yes, you get used to it. But that's not the point! Right now we need to concentrate on getting you down from that tree," Dizzi snapped. "Focus on moving your wings away from the branches. When you do, just let instinct take over."

He frowned disbelievingly, but did as he was told. He felt the tiny individual bones grate together as he flexed his wings experimentally. He smiled. It was actually working! And it was almost second nature. After a couple minutes of manoeuvring his wings, he dropped from the tree's grasp. With a sound like ripping cloth, his wings gave a huge flap, and he was soaring above the trees into the endless night sky.

* * *

Rei opened his eyes, strangely alert and awake. He uncurled himself from the tight ball he was in on the ground. He jumped to his feet, feeling quicker and more energetic than he had in weeks. He felt something tickling his cheek with a light feathery touch. He grabbed and tugged it in view of his face. It was a furry white tail with a pale gold sheen. A tail must lead to an animal, Rei reasoned. He followed it down to... himself.

"That cannot be right," he muttered in shock, walking up to the reflective surface of the nearby river.

Mirrored in the water's surface was Rei, but not as he knew himself. Though cat-like normally, his eyes seemed to be glowing slightly and the pupil was a thin black slit. Protruding slightly over his lip, were two sharp canine teeth. He was wearing a black ninja-style outfit, a long sword strapped to his back. His hands were longer and more elegant, ending in short, sharp claws. But the biggest change was the long white tail, and two large furry cat ears. He grinned.

"Looking good," he purred, and then stopped. "Did I just purr?"

"Yes, young master," a deep masculine voice purred.

"What the hell?" Rei yelled, twisting his torso round in surprise.

This sudden movement caused him to overbalance, toppling head first into the river. He thrashed wildly before realising that it was only knee-height. He crawled out, and sat sulkily on the river bank.

"I hate water," he mumbled, shaking the water from his hair.

"Quite," the voice agreed uncertainly.

"Who are you?" Rei asked, still annoyed at the voice for getting him wet.

"I am sorry, Master Rei. I am the being you call Driger," the voice rumbled apologetically.

"Driger? How is that?" Rei asked amazed.

"It seems that when young Mistress Garnet fainted, the magic that had built up inside her sent us all to an alternate universe and fused us together," Driger replied.

"Okay, I think I get the part about us fusing together. It explains the ears anyway," Rei murmured, scratching behind his ear.

"Quite, Master Rei," Driger rumbled.

"Time to find the others, I think," Rei said, stretching. "Oh, and could you stop calling Master Rei? It makes it sound like you're my servant instead of my partner."

"If you wish," Driger replied, not sounding all that sure, as Rei sprinted into the trees.

* * *

Kai woke up to find himself nestled in the uppermost branches of a tree. He ached all over, and felt sick to his stomach. He turned slightly and fell through a gap in the branches, and fell to the dusty ground below. For a moment he just laid there, half-conscious, his breathing short and ragged. The sound of a fire crackling nearby brought him to his senses. A voice echoed in his head.

"You cannot hope to survive without shedding your hold onto the real world. The fire is your only hope," it whispered.

With great effort, he pulled himself to his feet, and despite his best judgement, complied with the voice and stepped into the fire. It just felt like the right thing to do. He stood for a moment, eyes tightly shut, before he realised that the flames weren't actually hurting him. Instead, they seemed to be healing him. He felt his bone-deep weariness leave him, and a change came over him. Two huge scarlet wings burst from his back. His eyes become sharp and piercing, like a hawk's. He felt the fire around him lick at his skin, and he brought it together and cupped it in his hands. He grinned. Wielding the flames seemed totally natural.

"Great, I'm becoming a pyromaniac," he muttered sarcastically.

"You have mastered my powers quickly. I am impressed," the voice said, in an arrogant, powerful purr.

Kai frowned. He knew who the voice was; he had done since the fire had first touched him. But for some reason, he still didn't quite trust Dranzer like this. Dranzer had the voice of a young woman, the kind that graciously invites you to dinner, then plans your murder when you slight her, no matter how small or unintentional the insult.

"Dranzer, I wouldn't underestimate my abilities if I were you. Who else could control you like I do?" Kai replied curtly.

"Yes, you did a very good job of that," she muttered sulkily. "You've managed to have me stolen twice already."

"That isn't the point. I still wouldn't underestimate my skills. Some people have made that mistake before. They weren't quite the same afterwards," Kai commented in a quiet, murderous voice.

"Oh, I know what you mean. I remember those battles. They were fun. How come you never let me loose more often?" Dranzer reminisced with an evil laugh.

Kai didn't reply. He was busy trying to tug down his tunic. He was wearing a blue tunic, with black trousers and metal boots to his knees.

"Leave it. You shouldn't hide your legs, they're quite nice," Dranzer remarked in a voice that brought a pink blush to his cheeks.

"Don't go there," Kai muttered, setting off into the dark trees.

* * *

Max opened his eyes to see the huge expansive midnight-blue of the sky, the moon a fat bloated orb casting a pale silver sheen. He was drifting along, a happy little tune wafting through his head. He leant his head back a little, and the water of the river splashed over his face as his head submerged. A tiny message of shock registered in his brain before he was totally underwater. He paddled for a moment, taking huge gulping breaths from shock.

"Hang on a sec! I'm breathing underwater?" he thought, bewildered.

"Of course you are! You didn't expect to drown did you?" a little boy's voice giggled in his head.

"What is happening? And who are you?" Max asked, still totally shocked.

"Check your neck around the jaw-line, and I'm Draciel. Didn't you guess?" the little boy pouted.

Max lifted his hand to the place his bit-beast had specified, and found beneath his fingers, a set of gills down the side of his neck. He brought his hand away in shock and found that it was now webbed, with long pointed black nails. A fish swam past him, rubbing his back as it went by. He didn't feel it at all. He ran a hand over his back to find that it was, in essence, armour plated like a turtles shell. He grinned and did a little flip in his patch of water. He turned his watery blue eyes to the water's surface. Everything above him looked cool and shimmery, like he was looking at the world from above the water instead of below it.

"Nice isn't it?" Draciel asked, in a voice that sounded like he had seen this many times before, but never ceased to tire of it.

"Yeah," Max agreed, before swimming to the surface in search of his friends.

* * *

Hilary came around to find herself in a forest clearing filled with hundreds of fireflies nestled on the various branches in the trees around her. She stood up, rubbing her head from where she had hit it when she'd fainted. Everything seemed much louder all of a sudden, almost to a painful intensity. Probably from where she'd hit her head, she reasoned. Her hand moved to the side of her head, trying to dislodge the pieces of grass that had gotten stuck in her hair. She stopped a moment. She could feel the tip of her ear against the side of her hand. But her ears would have had to be about... twice their normal length. She giggled nervously as she moved her hand to the base of her ear and followed the skin. Normal length... still going... she stopped at the pointy tips, not quite believing what was happening. She brought her hands together and clutched them together, suddenly very frightened. She was somewhere she didn't know, she had lost her friends and now, to top everything off, it looked like she had turned into an elf. She stared at her shaking hands, noticing the porcelain quality they now had. She was wearing a knee-length dark green dress, tied at the waist with a makeshift leather belt. A quiver of arrows rested lightly on one of her bare shoulders, the bow lying on the ground by her feet. She picked it up, tightening her grasp with a determined smile. She could look after herself.

* * *

Tyson cracked open his eyes to see himself lying on an exposed rock above the river. The wind blew through his hair as if trying to grasp it and pull him to his doom in the river below. He sat up, stretching and yawning. He caught sight of two fangs glinting in his mouth as he leant over the rock. That didn't surprise him half as much as the red eyes, armoured claws and tail did though. He jumped back, a yell bursting from his lips. He landed on his back, staring at the moonlit sky.

"Why does this surprise you?" a voice he hadn't heard since his first world tournament asked.

"Shut up Dragoon. I really don't need questions like that right now," Tyson replied snappily.

"As you wish. I have just one more thing to say," Dragoon answered in his strong, patient voice.

"What?" Tyson asked wearily.

"Although you wield my powers well, this time you haven't got me as a channel to help the strain. I advise you to be careful," Dragoon uttered quietly, but clearly.

"I understand you, Dragoon. But right now, I'd say my main concern would be finding my friends, not learning how to fully master your powers. Once I find my friends, these things will make themselves clear," Tyson muttered back.

He stood up and stared out at the river as it made its way across the landscape, like a silver ribbon in a mass of blackness.

"Wait for me, Kai. I will find you out there," he muttered, exploring the rip that had been made inside him when he had been separated from the one he most cared about.

He turned and walked into the mass of shadowy trees that marked the edge of the forest.

* * *

The boy looked away from the misty surface of the looking-glass, Tyson's face fading from it. He bowed to the shining silver woman behind him.

"My lady, they have arrived. The heroes of legend have arrived," he muttered from where he knelt on the floor.

"Good. Then be sure to welcome them," the woman replied, in a sweet, ringing voice, like a bell.

"As you wish, my lady," the boy answered, straightening.

"Oh, and Michael... their lives are in your charge. Do not let them come to harm," she called as he turned to leave.

"I can assure you, they will not be harmed. After all these years, I think I know what I'm doing," Michael replied, the silver light emanating from the deity reflected in his sorrowful grey eyes.

* * *

Nisa-chan666: Second chapter over! I'm glad I survived Garnet and Michael here to actually write it.

Michael: Did we say we were trying to kill you? Sorry... we meant injure or maim, not as far as kill. Our creator didn't give us much stomach for blood (glares at authoress).

Nisa-chan: Sorry, sub-conscious decision there. So, guys, what did you think of the chapter?

Kai: You almost killed me! Do you hate me or something?

Nisa-chan: Nope, that's Shazy's job. You're my favourite character from Beyblade actually.

Max: O.O That's what you do to your favourite character? (Turns to other characters.) We're basically screwed then, aren't we?

Nisa-chan: Not necessarily. Kai's just an easy character to hurt. He can take it.

Kai: Nice to know I'm loved.

Nisa-chan: Shut up or I will kill you.

Kai: Shutting up.

Nisa-chan: As I was saying, what did you think? Please review and tell me what I need to improve. Please review, I've only had 1 so far. TT.TT


	3. Chapter 3: The prophecy

Nisa-chan666: Yay! This story has fans! Just a quick thank-you to KiraraCutie for the story favourite, to Tysonkaiexperiment for the story alert and review, and to Kenzie Jedenwie for the story favourite, story alert and review. To the reviewers of my last story, I know I didn't thank you all personally, but I really do appreciate all your support.

Michael: Before you ask, here's the disclaimer: Nisa-chan666 doesn't own Beyblade or any of the official characters (thankfully). But she does have full ownership of both the main OCs (unfortunately for us.)

Nisa-chan: Aren't I lucky to have him as a muse?

Michael: I'm just parts of you lumped together with a slightly different result. It's not my fault you made me a pessimistic sod.

Nisa-chan: Point taken. On with the story.

* * *

Chapter 3: The prophecy.

Garnet stepped back from the river, sucking at where she'd cut herself. She gripped the handle of the whip and slipped it from her waist. She examined it for a moment. The handle was perfectly sized for her to grip it, and her hand was protected with metal spikes arched from the base of the whip. The whip itself was thin and dark green, almost black, with thorns dotted evenly along its length that ended in murderously sharp red points. She flicked out her wrist experimentally. It snaked through the air, flipping up at the end with a loud snap. It returned to its previous position, lightly coiled in her hand.

"Kinky," she grinned, placing it back on her waist.

The mischievous smile left her face as she thought about the task ahead of her: finding her friends. She had no idea whatsoever how she was going to go about doing it. She stood frowning to herself. A noise alerted her to something in the air above her. She looked up to see Kenny hovering inches from her head, a pair of black wings poking out of his back.

"Kenny? Is that really you?" she asked as he slowly descended.

"Yep, it's me. Weird, huh?" he replied, indicating their present forms.

"To say the least. Slightly kinky too," she said, eying his bare chest with a small grin.

"Erm... yeah," he murmured, staring at his feet with cheeks afire.

"You're so innocent!" Dizzi giggled in his head.

"Shut up," he snarled.

"Who're you talking to?" Garnet asked, a cutely puzzled look on her face.

"Dizzi. She somehow managed to get transported from my laptop to my head. And she's annoying when you can't shut the lid on her," Kenny answered, annoyed.

"Why you little! I would smack you for that, but I can't. Damn that stupid dimension warp. I wanted to materialise, but no! I have to get stuck in your head!" Dizzi shrieked (literally).

"Jesus, woman! Keep it down why don't you?" Kenny hissed, clutching his ears.

"Oh dear," Garnet muttered, sweat-dropping anime-style. "Can you two stop arguing for a moment? We still have the little problem of finding our friends."

"I realise this, but sweet old Dizzi won't shut up. Excuse me for a moment," he replied, an extremely impatient frown on his face.

For a moment he just stood, frown still firmly on his face and his arms folded. A satisfied smile came to his face.

"Okay, we came to a truce. She's stopped screaming now," he grinned.

"How'd you do it?" Garnet asked, thinking of the ever-stubborn Dizzi.

"I apologised for calling her annoying," he answered, grin slipping slightly.

"I won't ask. Now to our present dilemma. How do we find our friends?" Garnet wondered aloud, hand on her chin thoughtfully.

"We could fly," Kenny answered, blushing slightly at what Dizzi had suggested in a low giggle.

"How?" Garnet asked, a smile on her face.

A minute later, they were both airborne, Kenny hugging Garnet to his chest. He had to use all his concentration to keep scanning the ground. His eyes kept darting to his girlfriend. It wasn't hard to guess why. She was beautiful in an innocently kawaii way. Everyone knew that he blatantly adored her. Except Garnet herself. He just wished that he could let her know everything. Everything he hid in his little heart.

"I think I just found someone," Garnet yelled, pointing to a lithe figure below them.

* * *

Hilary stepped out onto one of the forest paths, nervously biting her lip. The path was dark and barely more than a slight gap in the trees, making its meandering way through the forest, towards the heart. Suddenly the soft glow of the fire-flies was sorely missed. She had been walking for twenty minutes now, and every path seemed to go deeper into the forest, where she could well be walking around in for the rest of her life. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly. She was well and truly lost. Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched. A shadowy figure crouched in the branch of a nearby tree. He had been following her for the whole twenty minutes, flitting from tree to tree with as much noise as a shadow. His dark grey eyes watched her with interest. His orders had been to bring together the heroes of legend he had spent the last two centuries surveying the land for. But he had been strangely drawn to the heroine, her energy and spirit. It tugged at his usually distant heart. It disturbed him, because he hadn't felt any emotion for so long.

Concentrating hard, he said, "Follow the moonlight, even if it strays from the path. That way, you shall find the path to your friends."

Hilary started from where she had been wallowing in her own despair. A voice had whispered something in her ear, yet she was sure she would have felt the presence of someone behind her. She turned, and sure enough, there was no-one there. She sighed, and set out again, following the patches of moonlight that littered the ground like gouts of silver blood. She walked for another ten minutes when she heard the beating of wings above her, and suddenly Kenny and Garnet dropped to the ground in front of her.

"Hi, Hilary!" Garnet laughed, hugging her.

"I see I'm not the only one with strange changes," Hilary muttered, staring at Garnet in amazement.

"So I have green skin. Your point?" Garnet muttered dangerously.

"Sorry. It's just not quite what I expected," Hilary laughed nervously.

"Look, can we get going? It's cold standing here with no shirt on!" Kenny complained quietly.

"Right! But, we may have a problem. I doubt that you'll be able to carry more than two, right? So what happens when we meet the others?" Hilary asked.

"Let's just hope that we're all in a group by the time that becomes a problem," Kenny mused.

* * *

Rei had slowed to a walk and was now calmly ambling along the riverbank, tail sweeping the ground lazily. Now that he had used most of his energy running, all he wanted to do was curl up somewhere dry and warm. He yawned, wondering irritably when he would find his friends. And Max. He sighed. He was really worried about the American boy, knowing the kind of trouble he had got into in the past... The deep water of the river beside him basically exploded, and a translucent shape crashed into him, knocking him clear off his feet.

"Rei! I found you!" Max yelled happily, nuzzling up to the Chinese boy affectionately.

"Hey, Maxie. Nice to see you too," Rei laughed, relieved that Max was okay.

After a moment's studying, Max said, "I always thought you'd look cute with cat ears. I was right."

"Thanks. I never quite imagined this to be the product of you and Draciel," Rei replied with a nervous laugh.

"I didn't either. You don't mind?" Max asked, surprising Rei a little.

"No, of course not. Why do you ask?" Rei enquired, concerned.

"I don't know. I thought you might not like me like this, so you wouldn't like _me_," Max replied sadly.

"Don't be stupid. I'd love you whatever happened to you," Rei murmured, hugging Max to his chest. "Promise me two things. One, that you'll never think like that again."

"Promise. What's the second thing?" Max said, nuzzling into him.

"Don't jump on me again when you're soaking wet," Rei replied, sounding half amused, half exasperated.

"Oh! But that was fun!" Max laughed, as he stood up, dragging Rei with him.

* * *

Tyson floated past the trees, deep in thought. He missed Kai, more than he could say. It wasn't as bad as when Kai had been poisoned in Prague, but it still felt as though he'd been cut in two. He knew that he was whole with Kai, and Kai knew as well, try as he might to hide it. He felt Dragoon stir in his mind and frowned. He liked his bit-beast, but it quickly got tedious when the dragon kept trying to correct things about how he was using his abilities. It reminded him strangely of Grandpa in kendo training.

"Tyson..." Dragoon began.

"Don't tell me, I'm blowing myself too far to the right," Tyson interrupted sarcastically.

"No, I was going to say that I feel the presence of another of the sacred bit-beasts," Dragoon sighed.

"Oh. Which one?" he asked, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks.

"I believe it is Dranzer and Master Kai," the dragon answered after a moments thought.

"Kai! Where!" Tyson yelled.

"Up here, Tyson," a familiar voice answered in a lightly teasing voice.

Sitting in a branch above him was the captain of the Bladebreakers, and Tyson's boyfriend, Kai. He grinned, an affectionate glint in his eye.

"Hey koi," he whispered.

"Nice wings," Tyson commented, staring at the huge red wings coming from Kai's back.

"I could say the same about the claws. Not sure about the eyes though. I preferred them blue," Kai replied, slipping from the branch with an easy grace.

"I don't know. I like them," Tyson grinned, fangs glinting in the half-light.

"Hmmm. Well, you can certainly do an evil grin when you pair them with the teeth," Kai grunted, walking slowly beside a (still) floating Tyson.

"I suppose. But now we need to think about finding the others, not the strange changes that we've gone through," Tyson replied, draping his arms around Kai's neck.

"I suppose so," Kai sighed, looking up at the moon through the trees.

* * *

"Why do I have a very bad feeling about flying now?" Hilary squeaked after she looked again.

Both the girls were clutching one of Kenny's hands and basically dangling in mid-air. They had had tried to come up with a different method of transporting them all, but the only other solutions they had come up with that worked, were all very kinky, and made Kenny extremely uncomfortable. So they ended up clutching to his arms, while he flew around looking for any signs of life in the dense forest below. He took a deep breath, shaking his head wearily. There was more chance of a meteor hitting the earth than them being able to find their friends... not far in front of them, a white light streaked down from the sky into the forest with a resounding boom. So much for that theory, Kenny thought as he flew down into the massive hole in the trees where the light had hit. They hit the scorched ground, an eerie silence filling the hollow. Hilary turned on the spot, trying to take it all in. A shadow moved from her feet into the trees with a sharp scuttling sound. She squealed and jumped onto Kenny's back, almost toppling him forward onto Garnet.

"What the hell is your problem!" he yelled, after he had resettled his heart-rate.

"I saw something near my foot. It crawled into the forest. It wasn't... natural," Hilary whispered, still thoroughly spooked.

"Shush. Someone's in the forest," Garnet murmured.

"What do you think that light was?" an innocently puzzled voice asked.

"Don't know. Maybe checking out where it landed will give us some answers," a patient mature voice replied.

"Max? Rei? Is that you?" Hilary asked, smiling.

"Yep. Who did you expect?" Rei grinned back.

They were gathered in hugs of reunion, when they heard the flapping of wings above them.

"Finally, we found you! We've been flying around for ages looking for you. We thought you might come here," Tyson gushed, dropping to the ground in front of them.

"Hey guys," Kai grunted, descending with much more grace, and arms folded.

"Good, we're all back together. We'd better do a head count, just in case. Okay, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8... hang on. How many of us were there?" Garnet said, counting on her slender fingers.

"7," Max replied.

"How have I counted 8 then?" she asked.

"Maybe you counted him," Kai commented, gesturing to the shadowy figure standing next to him.

"Oh... WHO THE HELL IS HE!" Garnet yelled.

"Well, hello to you too," the figure remarked sarcastically.

But Garnet had every reason to be startled. He had literally walked out from nowhere. He waited for everyone to calm down enough for a relatively intelligent conversation. In that time, it is as good an opportunity to describe him as any. He was tall and thin, almost to the point of emaciated. He had no colour in him whatsoever, like a black and white photo from the Victorian era. He had very pale skin with a faint grey tinge to it, dark grey eyes that seemed to pierce everything he looked at, and mid-grey hair that flopped onto his forehead. He was wearing a white shirt, tight black jeans and a black leather trench-coat that went to just above his ankles. A pair of sunglasses rested on the top of his head, totally unnecessary in the circumstances. It was, after all, the middle of the night.

"Okay, I say it again. Who the hell are you?" Garnet asked, hand on her chest as she tried to slow her breathing.

"I am the Lord of the Shadows, servant of the mighty Moon goddess. But my mistress calls me Michael," the boy replied.

"And why are you here exactly?" Kai asked suspiciously.

"I am your guide. The Moon goddess wishes you to take up a quest to bring peace back to the land," Michael answered, seemingly ignoring the hostile glares Kai kept shooting at him.

"Pardon?" Max asked, cocking his head in a curious puppy-dog manner.

"...How can you not understand that?" Michael muttered, giving Max a look that clearly said, "You haven't got two brain cells to rub together, have you?"

"I think he means, why us of all people," Hilary explained, giggling.

"What she said, except louder," Max added, grinning good-naturedly.

"I see. Well... it's kind of hard to explain off the top of my head. My mistress told me to bring you to her, so she'll probably explain it all to you anyway," Michael replied, scratching his chin.

"And how are you going to get us to your mistress?" Kenny asked, a hint of scepticism in his voice.

"Like this," the enigmatic boy replied, rubbing his hands with a sly grin.

He closed his eyes and began chanting underneath his breath. Slowly at first, but gaining speed the longer he called, the shadows started to pool around their feet, until it looked as though they were floating at the top of a bottomless abyss. He stopped chanting and clapped his hands curtly, like a man impatient with his personal servant. At the sound, the shadows reared up and swallowed them, before collapsing into itself and dispersing. By that time, they weren't anywhere to be seen.

* * *

"Well done, Michael. You have completed your charge," an ethereal woman's voice purred.

"As requested, my lady. You didn't doubt me, did you?" Michael replied, sinking into a low bow.

"Of course not. But I'm being discourteous to our guests. I am Celina, goddess of the moon. I have been awaiting your arrival for centuries," the woman smiled.

Celina was a tall, slender woman with shining silver hair cascading to her ankles. Her skin was flawless, white like egg-shell china. Her eyes were a dark grey like her servant bowed before her. She wore a black dress that accentuated her natural curves, and a silver circlet rested on her forehead. In a nutshell, she radiated supernatural beauty. But at the same time, there was something alien, forbidden about her.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Tyson asked, looking around in amazement.

"I transported you to my mistress' palace," Michael replied, straightening with an amused glint in his eyes.

"It's like an RPG," Max mused quietly.

"Max, now isn't time to be comparing our lives to a computer game," Kenny whispered.

"Might I ask what is going on?" Garnet asked nervously, eyes rooted to the floor.

The moon goddess walked up to her in a strange gliding way, an analytical look on her face. She stopped a few inches from Garnet, and lifted her chin so that they were looking at each other, eye to eye. Garnet was struck by a strange mixture of complete panic and complete calm as she looked into the mysterious eyes of the woman before her.

"So you are the guardian with whom our world's fate rests," Celina murmured, a small frown alighting her face. "Such a frail form to have taken. Can you truly take this burden?"

"I don't understand. What are we supposed to be doing?" Garnet asked.

Celina glided away to a small leaded window built in a niche in the wall, and stared out of the window, seemingly in a world of her own.

"When the world was new, one of my brothers disobeyed the laws set down by our all-mighty father and was punished by being banished to spend the rest of eternity in the night sky, along with his twelve servants. In his anger, my brother made a prophecy, that he would one day alight again upon this earth, to either conquer or destroy it. He completed sealing the prophecy before we could restrain him in the sky. When a prophecy is sealed, it means that no matter what actions you take to avert it, the event will inevitably come to pass. Unable to reverse the prophecy, my brothers, sisters and I altered it. We made celestial warriors to fight my brother and save the land from his wrath. My younger brother, the heavenly messenger, foretold of a dragon born in the heart of the storm, who would control the winds," she said turning to look at them all.

"A dragon?" Tyson asked quietly, staring at his claws.

"My eldest brother, chariot driver of the sun, foretold of a phoenix, burning the ways of old, and arising from the ashes to embrace the new. He was inextricably entwined with the dragon, in ways that we couldn't explain," the moon goddess continued.

Kai blushed and glanced at Tyson who was staring at him with a perplexed, but not negative, frown.

"My sister, goddess of the mountain, foretold of a golden tiger who would seek out injustice and evil and lay waste to them with his claws. My brother, god of the sea, foretold of a creature born of the wave crests who would look upon all creatures with an unassuming eye, unless they crossed him. He and the tiger were also inextricably linked," Celina continued, watching the incredulous looks on their faces with each passing minute. "My youngest sister, goddess of the hunt and woodland, foretold of an Elvin warrior woman who would overcome more than physical enemies in her long journey. My mother, goddess of wisdom, foretold of a harpy, unique in the fact that he wouldn't be female. She predicted that he too would conquer more than physical obstacles. I foretold of a boy composed of shadows, who would find a light in his long life of hiding in the gloomy half-light. And my father foretold of a guardian, key to the long quest ahead of them. He predicted that she would suffer in ways few can imagine, but she would come out a stronger person overall."

For a few minutes afterwards, they just stood in silence, words failing to reach their tongues. Finally, Michael stirred.

"Are you saying that I too am one of the legendary heroes?" he asked uncertainly, like the mere idea of it was totally absurd.

"I am. You were the only warrior to have been born in this world. You have remained formless for centuries, occupying shadows until you found the other celestial warriors. This is the reason for training you all of these centuries," Celina replied, sorrow quietly ringing in her voice.

"I see. I won't disappoint you," he replied, turning away and stalking into the shadows, which soon consumed him.

Celina watched him sadly before turning back to the Bladebreakers, saying, "You must rest up. You have a long journey ahead of you."

"One more question," Garnet said, before the goddess could walk away. "The light that landed in the forest; that was your brother's servants wasn't it? What are we fighting?"

"If you look outside, you will see that 12 constellations are missing from the sky. Can you see what they are?" Celina replied, gesturing to the window.

"I can't," Garnet said, frowning slightly.

"His servants are the 12 signs of the zodiac wheel. The signs of fire, earth, air and water. And my brother is the darkness of the night sky. He is dangerous, because he knows that the other gods and I tampered with his prophecy. He knows of you and will use any means to dispose of you. Be very careful," the goddess replied, a sudden weariness in her voice.

* * *

Nisa-chan666: Yay, Chapter 3 is finally finished. After several late nights and my sister quoting Chobits behind me (at least for this last night), it is finished! I'm pleased with the result anyway.

Michael: You finally added me. Why did you give me sunglasses?

Nisa-chan: Because I could. Besides, my sister the rabid fan-girl, approved. What more do you want?

Michael: I don't know. I just like complaining about the things you do to me.

Nisa-chan: ¬.¬ Thank you. . Anyway, please read and review. I enjoy getting your comments.


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